Auction of trust
AUCTION is an invention of someone clever who studied human behaviour closely and exploited the spirit of competition among people to fetch maximum out of the bargain.
Millions of auction centres and big auction houses exist around the world where expensive furniture, artefacts, paintings, jewellery, machines and properties are auctioned.
Western colonizers ruthlessly carried on with inhuman salve trade for centuries.Black Africans were mostly bought and sold through open auction.
Sad to mention the tragedy of modern times, sex slaves are frequently bought and sold through auction in the flagitious underworld of crimes.
This miserable nation, which has been yearning for true democracy in the country for decades, witnesses the nationwide auction of lawmakers of Pakistan.
Lawmakers, commonly called parliamentarians, inclined and tempted to sell themselves in the upcoming “No Confidence” move against ruling government, are being approached time and again by different political parties.
Abhorrent in nature and shameful to mention, this is not the first time happening so.During no confidence motion against senate chairman few months ago, votes of senate members were bought and sold with open vulgarity and shamelessness.
State institutions, responsible to ensure the sanctity of vote, behaved like a sitting duck.
Inaction on the part of Election Commission of Pakistan and supreme judiciary of the country further emboldened the “Merchants of Vote” to carry on with their unethical and criminal auctioneering of vote.
A member of parliament who defects his party or sells his vote, actually sells the trust of his voters.
No elected representative of the people has moral authority to cross the assembly floor to join another political party without going back to the voters of his constituency to secure their approval to let him change his party loyalty.
Selling one’s vote is not only grossly immoral, it is criminal and such a crime deserves extremely harsh and exemplary punishment to discourage and abolish this illegal trade totally.
Buying and selling of the vote (people’s trust) is as vulgar, shameful and illegal as buying and selling of slaves during a sex slave auction, perhaps even more.
Current political turmoil in the country forces every citizen, who truly believes in the existence of true democracy in the country, to observe and analyze the practical role of certain state institutions and some other non state actors responsible for true democracy to exist and flourish in this society.
The role of Election Commission of Pakistan, supreme judiciary, electronic & print media and social media is vital to understand the diabolic game of disrespecting the sanctity of vote.
Election Commission of Pakistan did not take any practical and punitive action against those involved in the dirty business of buying and selling votes.
With such negligence, absence to perform its constitutionally assigned duties and willingness to combat this crime, it raises question about the existence of this state institution.
What a waste of tax payer money over an institution which appears failed to perform its basic role.
Existence of a free, fair, honest and competent judicial system is without doubt the backbone of a civilized society.
With this universally accepted fact the role of judiciary becomes important and critical for any social system to exist and perform efficiently.
Dismal indifference of the supreme judiciary towards current lawmaker auction forces the citizens of this country to revisit the international ranking of Pakistan’s judiciary (120th position out of 128 countries) and its assigned constitutional role.
Hefty salaries, allowances and other perks of judges and other judicial staff are also paid from tax payer money.
A rational mind is forced to think about judiciary no more different than what he thinks about Election Commission, as stated above.
Role of electronic media with its inherent shallow capacity to analyze, poor journalism and lack of maturity, is seen no more than a hype creator in the country.
Media has to educate and make people realize the gravity and consequences of the current political fiasco which is totally undemocratic, immoral and ethic less.
Social media is vibrantly active and playing its positive role to some extent.Irrespective of the outcome of the no confidence motion, people need to question few basic issues.
One, what is the justification for this no confidence motion, second, how it is going to strengthen democracy in the country.
Third, what should be the end of those who betrayed the trust of their voters.Fourth, question the constitutional role of state Institutions responsible to protect democratic process and system against malpractices.
Frequent assertion of the members of parliament during TV talk shows and interviews demand respect because they reached assembly after securing the public mandate, this demand alone puts a heavy moral and constitutional burden on their shoulders to respect the mandate of their respective voters.
Certainly not all, but those few who breached the trust of their voters by selling their vote have yet again hammered a severe dent on the meagerly left credibility, integrity and honesty of entire lawmaker fraternity.
Respect is not demanded, respect is being earned through respectable conduct and respectable deeds, not otherwise. —The writer is contributing columnist, based in Islamabad.
